November 2018

Nobody is Above the Law!

It's MUELLER time.

BREAKING: PROTESTS CALLED FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 5 PM LOCAL TIME Donald Trump has installed a crony to oversee the special counsel's Trump-Russia investigation, crossing a red line set to protect the investigation. By replacing Rod Rosenstein with just-named Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker as special counsel Robert Mueller's boss on the investigation, Trump has undercut the independence of the investigation.

Radioactive Waste 357 - Some Fly Ash From Chinese Coal Power Plants Is To Radioactive To Be Used In Building Materials

       One of my early computer consulting jobs was to create an automated system to display the daily location of rail cars carrying pozzolan or fly ash from the burning of coal in Midwestern coal fired power plants. This material was being shipped to the West Coast to be used in the production of cement.

Autumn Weeds Study

Now that it's autumn, weeds are everywhere, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. Sure, you want them out of your garden, but many weeds have medicinal or otherwise helpful properties. Milkweed, for example, is what monarch butterflies dine on, attracting them to your yard. You can empty out their pods and dry the seeds to plant even more next year, too. How much do you know about Thistle? Burdock?

Dragon Eyes on Everything

Dragons are all the rage, and where you might have once glued googly eyes to a mailbox or your shoes, now it's all about the dragon eyes. Artist Dragonarium does just that and sells her cool creations, but did you know that it's easy to do it yourself? This semester my daughter's been in a geek art class run by a friend of mine and she taught us how to put dragon eyes on journals! Here's a cool tutorial to teach you how to do it.

A Library For Rare Book Manuscripts

If you're a lover of rare books, you need to check out the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library if you're ever near New Haven, Connecticut. The library is on the Yale campus and houses over a million rare works, including the Gutenberg Bible.  There are scripts from Medieval and Renaissance times, a World War I collection and even works on papyrus. 

Advice From Amanda C. Gorman

Amanda C. Gorman, the first Youth Poet Laureate of America, knows a thing or two about starting a project and following through with it. Using a Harry Potter metaphor in an interview with TED-Ed, she says that ideas are like wands and that they choose their own bearers. This means that like many writers, Gorman experiences dry periods as well as times in her life that are filled with endless ideas. She does say that reading other poets' works helps provide inspiration at times.

Harry Potter Games

With the rise of fandemonium, nearly every popular fandom has been used to brand everything from Monopoly to Clue. The Harry Potter franchise, however, has many of its own unique games, which is cool for fans as well as people who just want to try new games. There's Wizard's Chess, which is pretty much just chess with characters from the books, but there's also the cooperative Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle game, which is great for groups who want to reach an end goal together.

Regenerating Frog Legs

Frogs are known as nature's alarm system. Since their bodies readily absorb toxic materials from the enviornment, causing them to sometimes grow abnormal or extra limbs as a result and tell scientists what's wrong in their habitat. Frogs that lose limbs can sometimes grow back bits and pieces of them, but scientists have now developed a bioreactor device that actually helps African dwarf frogs regenerate their limbs completely.

30 Days of Dead

Deadheads, you know what month it is! It's time for 30 Days of Dead, when we can all get FREE downloads at Dead.net every day. Visit the site each day to find out which of the 30 tracks you can download and be sure to scoop them up while they're here. 30 Days of Dead kicked off this year with 14 minutes of "China Cat Sunflower" and "I Know You Rider." Be sure to get in on the contests and giveaways throughout the month, such as guessing which venue tracks take place in order to receive free Grateful Dead swag. 

Life Cycle of HIV

While knowing we still have painful, life-threatening diseases, many of which are becoming resistant to treatments, is a sobering thought, we do live in an age where we've understood illness better than ever before. At least we don't think we get the flu because the gods are mad at us... okay, some politicians and evangelists may still buy into this but most of us get how bacteria and viruses work. What's even cooler is that there are videos of actual germs and viruses, whether animated by experts or taken in real time, to help us really visualize the concept.

Tea Quiz

Are you a big tea drinker? If so, could you say that you're an expert on all things tea? Do you know which plant tea is derived from, or who the largest producer of tea in the world is? If you think you might know the answers to these questions and others about your beloved drink, click here for a fun tea quiz. 

Bowls for Lunch

Many people are jumping on board the bowls craze. Whether they were introduced via a restaurant like Chipotle or Crazy Bowls and Wraps, or they just want to cut the carbs out of their tacos and burritos, bowls present a great healthy alternative to many dishes. "Aren't bowls just salads?" many people might ask. The answer to that is, of course, sometimes! It depends on what you put in your bowl. If you love spaghetti squash or spiralized zucchini as your base, is it truly a salad? 

Family Guy on Hulu

Did you hear the news? Hulu has acquired exclusive streaming rights for Family Guy. That means if you want to catch all of the old episodes you'll have to get an account, which, at less than $8 per month, is a steal, especially if you can watch any episode you want at any time. It's even better than having the DVDs since you don't even have to get up to switch them to find your favorite episodes; you just surf through and pick them from the lineup.

Go Vote

The upcoming midterm election is the hottest political race I have ever witnessed. It feels even more heated than Bush II's election. After witnessing the damage one reality star and his heavily one-sided Congress and House of Representatives can inflict the last two years, hopefully the "blue wave" we've been promised will be more than the wishful thinking that many are afraid it may turn out to be. Then there's the voter complacency between those who don't vote and those who waste votes on third parties.

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